Ryan Seacrest Biography

Ryan Seacrest

Birthday: December 24, 1974

Birthplace: Dunwoody, GA

Sign: Capricorn

Ryan John Seacrest was born in Dunwoody, GA to Gary and Constance Seacrest, an attorney and a homemaker, respectively. Seacrest idolized radio personalities like Casey Kasem and Dick Clark and from a young age wanted to be a DJ. He'd later get to work with one of these great idols of his.

Seacrest got a jump on his career aspirations in high school. Every morning, he hosted the announcements, and was also a member of the model UN club and a writer for his school's paper. He graduated in 1993, and even though he hosted his own radio show at University of Georgia, he dropped out at 19 and moved to Hollywood to further his broadcasting career and try to hit the big time. He ultimately succeeded.

Seacrest's first major television job was the host of a weekend morning show on CNET called "The New Edge," which promoted new technologies in the market. In 2002, he took on a new job: co-host of the soon-to-be-hit reality TV singing competition "American Idol" with comedian Brian Dunkleman. When "American Idol" went on to become a success with its viewers, Seacrest got his share of the spotlight. He became the sole host of the show the next year when Dunkleman left the show and garnered himself even more attention.

With his newfound fame, Seacrest launched a daily entertainment show, "On Air with Ryan Seacrest," in January 2004, but was cancelled in September because of low ratings. However, Seacrest wasn't kept down - also in January 2004, Seacrest replaced Casey Kasem as the new host of the legendary radio program "American Top 40."

The very next month, Seacrest became the host of popular KIIS's morning radio show, a Los Angeles radio station. He replaced another longtime host, Rick Dees. Seacrest renamed this show "On Air With Ryan Seacrest."

The following December, Seacrest amped up his resume yet again by executive producing and co-hosting "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve." Due to Clark's stroke and recovery, which caused speech issues, Seacrest became the permanent host of the show after that New Year's 2005.

In January 2006, E! Entertainment announced it offered Seacrest a three-year, $21 million deal to host and produce E! News and its red carpet coverage at awards shows. He renewed his deal in August 2008 and will work for E! until 2012.

In April 2006, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for co-hosting the 2005 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade with Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa. Ironically, Seacrest hosted the 59th Emmy Awards in September 2007.

In addition to staying busy professionally, he has stayed busy in his personal life. He has been linked to Casey Kasem's daughter Kerri Kasem, singer Paulina Rubio, actresses Teri Hatcher and Sophie Monk, and Miss USA Tara Conner.